A Wavelet Approach to Detecting Electrocautery Noise in the ECG.
- ISSN: 07395175
- DOI: 10.1109/MEMB.2006.1657791
Abstract
A software approach has been developed for detecting electrocautery noise in the electrocardiogram (ECG) using a wavelet decomposition of the signal. With this approach, a clinical monitoring expert system can be forewarned of potential artefacts in trend values derived from the ECG, allowing it to proceed with caution when making decisions based on these trends. In 15 operations spanning 38.5 hours of ECG data, we achieved a false positive rate of 0.71% and a false negative rate of 0.33%. While existing hardware approaches detect the source of the noise without any ability to assess its impact on the measured ECG, our software approach detects only the presence of noise in the signal itself. Furthermore, the software approach is cheaper and easier to implement in a clinical environment than existing hardware approaches.
A Wavelet Approach to Detecting Electrocautery Noise in the ECG.
76 IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2006
A Simpler,
More Effective
Software Approach
0739-5175/06/$20.00©2006IEEE
A
software approach has been developed for detecting electrocautery
noise in the electrocardiogram (ECG) using a wavelet decomposition of
the signal. With this approach, a clinical monitoring expert system can
be forewarned of potential artifacts in trend values derived from the
ECG, allowing it to proceed with caution when making decisions based
on these trends. In 15 operations spanning 38.5 h of ECG data, we achieved a false
positive rate of 0.71% and a false negative rate of 0.33%. While existing hardware
approaches detect the source of the noise without any ability to assess its impact on
the measured ECG, our software approach detects the presence of noise in the signal
itself. Furthermore, the software approach is cheaper and easier to implement in a
clinical environment than existing hardware approaches.
Introduction
Electrocautery noise is a significant obstacle to be overcome in the real-time imple-
mentation of clinical monitoring expert systems. The electrosurgical unit (ESU) that
produces the noise is used extensively in surgery. Its ability to quickly cut tissue and
coagulate blood vessels has made the ESU an indispensable tool for surgeons. To cut
and cauterize, the ESU passes a high-frequency current from an active electrode to a
grounding plate via the patient’s body. The active electrode contacts only a small
amount of tissue, resulting in a high current density that causes heating, which
destroys tissue. As a side effect, the current passing through the patient’s body cor-
rupts measurements of small potentials at the skin surface, manifesting itself as
BY CHRISTOPHER BROUSE,
GUY A. DUMONT,
FELIX J. HERRMANN,
AND J. MARK ANSERMINO
A Wavelet Approach
to Detecting
Electrocautery
Noise in the ECG
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